TOPIC: 3d printing for animals

I recently had the privilege of working with Dr. Arnold S. Lesser, VMD, from New York Veterinary Specialty in Long Island, New York, and his assistant, Victoria Leonard, on two patients with angular limb deformities; one a Newfoundland and one a cat. Dr. Lesser asked our 3D Printing Team to print replicas of the front legs of each pet on our ProJet 660Pro from 3D Systems. This printer can print models as big as 15” x 10” x 8” and uses a sandstone powder type material, somewhat like actual bone, when processed properly.

After receiving the STL files of the complete PET/CAT scans of the animals, I imported the files into 3D Studio Max, a modeling visualization program from Autodesk. From here, I isolated the portions of the scan Dr. Lesser needed for his pre-surgery planning – specifically the humerus, radius and ulna – and within just a few hours, the models were printed! Using these models, Dr. Lesser was able to practice the surgery, in turn lessening the time the animals would be under anesthesia.

Dr. Lesser addressed the angular limb deformity by cutting the lower part of the radius and ulna and using an external skeletal fixator to fix the bone into straight alignment and, in one case, lengthen the leg. In the end, thanks to Dr. Lesser and his team and our 3D Printing Team, both of the pets had successful surgeries!

If you would like to learn more about the benefits of 3D printing for the veterinary field, or the 3D printing services we offer in general, please contact 3dprinting@microsolresources.com!